What county officials think

"I'll tell you what the most important thing has been - 9-1-1 and public safety. That was probably one of the best things that's ever happened to these three counties."

" … I think we should be doing more things for the elderly people.

" … Recycling - I never thought recycling would go through. That was a big mandate from the public. They wanted it, and I'm in favor of that.

" … You take the townships that want roads fixed and if we tacked on 4 or 5 mills on to every resident in every township, do you think we could fix all the roads? I think so."

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- Phillip Johnson, Charlevoix County commissioner

"The idea is to have a balanced budget, not levy our full property taxes and still try to maintain the services that seem to be increasing in terms of demand. It's just going to keep getting larger and therefore more demands will be put on the services of the county.

" … We'd like to improve our parks and recreation department and recreational opportunities for ordinary people, because there's limited access now to things people used to enjoy 30 years ago, like walking into Lake Michigan.

" … We'd like to do more for county employees. They have to buy medical insurance when they retire. It'd be very nice if the county could pick up some certain amount. Right now, we've got people looking at retirement and they worked in the public sector for many years. We need good people in public service."

" … We're not happy with our fund balance. It is not critical. It's serious, but certainly not critical."

- James Harris, Emmet County commissioner

"I would've supported an increased millage in order to ensure we are fiscally solvent.

When you're growing at 20 percent a year, it's hard to cut back. We have unprecedented demand on our services. The amount of paperwork being recorded in the register of deeds office is explosive. In addition to every day transactions, you have parcels being split, subdivisions being platted, and it's an unprecedented wave of refinancing.

" … We had a couple of years there that I think the millage rates were basically maintained at the same level. I think the county board has attempted to really hold the line (but) when you look at it in the aggregate, county millage in Emmet County is a relatively small portion of your overall tax bill.

"When we had discussed the overall possibility of raising the millage back in November, I was contacted by one individual with concerns about raising taxes. I said to this person, 'OK, where would you like to see the cuts made? Do you not want a new airport? Do you want improvements to the care facility? Do we cut the recycling program now that we've lost the inmates?

"I'm a taxpayer and I'm very concerned about how taxpayer dollars are spent. My experience sitting on the finance committee is that the county is responsible for providing numerous essential governmental functions and we have to ensure that these services are provided.

" … I'm trying to represent my constituents. I knocked on hundreds of doors in my district and I did not receive complaints about the local tax burden. All the complaints were about the bowling alley and the roller rink being shut down, and what is there for their kids to do, why are roads in such poor condition, and how come it takes so long for the police to respond. I did not hear, 'Why are my taxes so high'?"

- Stefan Scholl, Emmet County commissioner.

"Something that we've done that's been very effective is we've established a couple of substations in the county. The county seat is not the center of the county, so we have a substation in the Boyne Falls area, in the east end of the county, and that's a very cost-effective part of the department. They're so glad to have us over there.

"We're trying to get one in East Jordan for the same concept. We try to place the deputies around the county so response time is a lot better."

- George Lasater, Charlevoix County Sheriff

"I feel very strongly that the delinquent tax revolving fund should be self-funded. The county borrows money to pay off all local units for taxes, and we have to get a bond to pay those costs. No one really wants that business anymore, because the banks don't make any money on it. It's getting really hard to even get a deal.

"Some commissioners think that we're working toward being self-funded, but I had to borrow $4 million last year. Our taxable value in Emmet County is increasing so quickly, but so are delinquents."

- Ann Payne, Emmet County treasurer

"We're heavily involved in 4-H and do a large amount of work with agriculture and small farm operations. As larger agricultural producers become fewer and fewer, we are spending our time working with small, part-time farmers. We also work with local units of government on land use issues and environmental issues."